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Monday, March 18, 2013

Removing wax from your board

You should change your wax for the change in season or for a trip somewhere warmer/cooler.
It is worth the effort to have good grip under your feet! Plus your board looks nice with a fresh coat of wax on it, rather than layer after dirty layer.

If your wax coat has melted and then hardened again, it tends to separate, lose its grip, and become uneven and gross.

Pouring hot water on your board could result in the glass delaminating.

Instead:
1. Leave it in the sun for 5-10 minutes.

2. Get your wax comb and use the smooth tapered edge to scrape away!

Just how clean do you want this board? If you're reapplying wax, then you're probably done and you can get to work rewaxing...

3. But if you're going to paint your board, it needs to be really clean. As in spotless! Get an old tea towel or rag and get the paddle muscles working to buff the wax residue off the deck. Pay special attention to any pressure dings where the wax gets caught.

4. Next, give your deck a good wipe down with acetone. Basically industrial nail polish remover. It'll take any grease, remaining wax and dirt off the deck, making it shiny and like new. You may even see your board in this state and decide that it is too pretty to make over :)

Which Wax?

Whatever fancy-shmancy marketing name it gets given, wax generally comes in COLD, COOL, WARM & TROPICAL. Some even have a guide as to the water temps they refer to when they say 'cold' etc.

Tropical wax has to withstand higher temps without melting, therefore it is harder. Cold wax needs to be able to be rubbed on your board in cold temperatures, won't be exposed to as much heat and therefore is softest. If you're in Perth or Queensland in Summer with a cold wax on your board it will be streaming off the deck in minutes.

Cool Tips

* So you need to pick the right wax for your location and climate.

* If you want to get really fancy, put a base coat down of the hardest wax (tropical) and then a topcoat of whatever is seasonally appropriate.

* If you clean your deck off ready for Summer and apply harder waxes, these can then become your base coat as the water cools and you simply whack some cool-water wax over the top. (Cool-water under tropical doesn't work so well ;)

* Applying wax is its own art form and everyone has their own method. You can try rubbing it on in circles or long strokes, diagonally down the deck, or a combination. Whatever works best for you!